Drugs help a lot of people. If it werent for drugs i wouldnt be alive today because there was a time when i had nothing else to live for as i had lost all of my interests and without pleasure in your life you have no motivation to work or do anything. I was so unhappy and drugs gave me the pleasure that i had been missing and i continued to live so that my parents and siblings wouldnt have to suffer from my death. If the addict has free will then the drug doesnt cause them to do anything. It may make them want to do something bad but it cant cause them to do bad if they have free will. And most addicts dont do the crimes that are sought to be prevented by making them illegal so punishing them for drugs is punishing them for something they havent done and wont necessarily do. They dont deserve to go to prison and get raped beaten and tortured physically and emotionally when they havent harmed anyone. That is not fair and fairness is the only objective way of seeing the difference between right and wrong.

Simple drug addiction doesn't hurt anyone else.

If it were legal, accessing drugs to get high at home and chill to maintain your "health" (as stopping cold turkey is worse for your health than continuing average drug use) wouldn't do anything to anyone but yourself. If it were completely legal, the government would create the drugs, cutting the trillion dollar war-on-drugs, cutting almost all crime related to drugs, dismantling gangs that work around selling drugs, and would ensure there aren't any "bad drugs" out there to kill people instead of get them high.

Some people are born addicted, and to punish them would be equal to punishing someone for being gay, or of a certain ethnicity. We should educate and inform them of the risks and dangers of drugs, but should not categorize them as criminals, with murderers and rapists.

I agree to an extent.

We do provide help, of course, and just because we provide it, doesn't mean that it is taken advantage of. You have to understand that punishment should also be enforced to an extent. Drug addicts made the choice to start drugs and therefore accepted the repercussions that was later addiction (in most situations).

Yes i do agree

In my opinion,people don't change but the time forces them to have a change in them.So,if a person is addicted to something then there might be some reason behind it or some bad experience. So,rather just blaming the person we should try to figure the things out for him/her by showing empathy.

Some are, some aren't; irregardless

Some drug addicts aren't unfortunate, some will gladly do drugs just to do them. Some do it for escapism, suicide, or purely recreational. Irregardless, it is ridiculous to punish people for doing this sort of thing consciously and willingly to themselves. It'll be like arresting someone for drinking or smoking cigarettes. Better to legalize and tax drugs.

Well yeah mostly

But it also comes down to whether or not they themselves want help, it depends on your person, some are evil, some just have problems, but it's all up to them, they have the power, no one else, so we should offer them help but accept the chance they will refuse.

Drug addiction leads to reckless and often dangerous behavior

Many addicts will spend their last penny for a fix, throwing their family into debt and ripping apart relationships in their relentless pursuit of their next fix. They'll betray friends, sell items with high sentimental value, and even commit other crimes to obtain the drug that they're looking for. It's a vicious cycle and they need to see that their actions have very real and very negative consequences punishable by law.

Treat the addiction, but don't excuse the crime.

I know the effect that drugs have on people. My brother is in jail right now on a frequenting charge and failure to go to court on his court date. This is his third time in jail for drugs. The first time was for breaking an entering when he kicked in the door to my mothers and mine apartment in a rage while he was on drugs with his girlfriend. That including verbally threatening my mother and myself. The second charge was for possession of illegal marijuana. The last few years with my brother has been hell. The stress he put on my mom, and all the money she's been spending to help him in jail for the last three and a half years.

Addiction is a very serious thing, and those who are addicted (To absolutely anything, not just drugs) need to get help. However, I do know that an addict's problems doesn't just effect them. An addict will and does hurt the people around them. Alcohol and other drugs contribute to over 50 of all suicides and over 50 percent of all violent crimes and 95% of college campus violence is alcohol related (Florida Institute of technology). The total overall cost of substance abuse in the United States is over $600 billion including crime-related cost and distribution (National institute on Drug Abuse). Anyone with drug addiction can be extremely dangerous to the people around them, and to themselves.

Taking drugs illegally is a crime. If you commit a crime you need to serve your time and debt to society. I agree that people who have a drug addiction should be helped, but that doesn't mean that their crimes shouldn't be prosecuted just because "They were high at the time" Their situation is unfortunate, but drugs aren't an excuse for ANYTHING, and never should be. Believe me, addicts will commit crimes, including robbery, rape, assault, murder, and prostitution.

Treat the drug addiction, but don't excuse the crime. Use of illegal drugs is an extremely unhealthy and dangerous activity, which is why it is a crime.

I would imagine that our susceptibility determines what drugs we will become addicted to. I like pot. I dont have that great of a susceptibility for marijuana which is to say that it doesnt get me into any trouble or hurt those around me. Most drug users are functioning addicts and arent psychopaths who do horrible things for their drug like the cops would have you believe. Alcohol causes much more violence than pot. People od on it. They dont drive near as well on it as they do with marijuana. Weed is better in every way except how it makes you feel which is better or worse than alcohol depending on your chemistry. If alcohol is legal then weed ought to be legal. And i actually think we should decriminalize drug abuse and the selling of drugs and stop sending people to prison when they havent hurt anyone but themselves if that.